Irvine Approves Two More High-Rise Condo Projects

Orange County Business Journal, Sep 13-Sep 19, 2004 by Padilla, Mathew

Lennar Project Calls for Condos (Some Affordable), Offices, Shops, Possible Jamboree Bridge

REAL ESTATE

RESIDENTIAL

Bring it on.

That's not George W. Bush talking, but the city of Irvine.

In the past couple months, Irvine's City Council has given two development groups the go-ahead to build condominium high-rises on land once zoned for other uses.

The biggest project is the redevelopment of the former 43-acre Parker Hannifin Corp. campus next to the San Diego (I-405) Freeway. Miami-based homebuilder Lennar Corp. and Highgate Holdings, an Irving, Texas-based real estate investor, are the developers. :

Lennar's Aliso ViejO'based California arm is the managing partner.

The team plans 1,380 condos, plus 90,000 square feet of offices and 19,700 square feet of shops at the corner of Jamboree Road and Michelson Drive near John Wayne Airport.

The developers could start demolishing buildings within a few months, according to Timothy "Tim" Strader Jr., president of Irvine-based Starpointe Ventures, a consultant on the project.

Strader said the project has been dubbed Central Park, because it will be built around a 2.5-acre common area that should include a park, community center, pools, gym and other amenities. There could be other parks throughout the project.

Irvine approved the redevelopment last month, but with a coupte of caveats.

For one, the developers have agreed to pay $4 million toward traffic upgrades, Strader said.

He said the money could be used to build a pedestrian bridge over Jamboree, connecting the former Parker campus with Park Place, where Canada's Bosa Development Corp. is putting up two condo towers.

The city is studying the possibility of a bridge, according to Strader.

There has been some talk of revamping Jamboree to make it more pedestrianfriendly. A bridgeas one idea. Other ideas include widening sidewalks and putting in a landscaped central median. Another option is to add shuttle buses.

The second caveat: 62 condos must be affordable. Two nonprofits, Irvine-based Jamboree Housing Corp. and San Francisco-based Bridge Housing Corp., have teamed up to build those units.

The affordable units are set to be broken into two income groups, according to Laura Archwleta, president of Jamboree Housing. .

In the first group, a household of four people must earn 50% or less of OC's - median income, or $37,800, a year, she said. The same household in the second group must earn 80% or less, which comes out to $60,480.

The first group of affordable condos is projected to sell from $65,000 to $87,000. The second group could go for $136,000 to $176,000, Archuleta said.

The condos in both groups are set to range from one to three bedrooms and be comparable to market-rate homes, she said. They will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. Jamboree Housing already has started collecting names, she said.

One high-rise is set to be 16 to 18 stories, Starpointe's Strader said. It should reach the maximum height restriction allowed-204 feet-for a building near John Wayne Airport, he said.

The approval calls for 95 two- or threestory townhomes; 983 condos in three- or four-story buildings; and 240 high-rise condos. The makeup could change, sources said.

The other big development project, approved by the city in July, is for two 15-story condo towers on a 13-acre site at the corner of Jamboree and Campus Drive. The towers should total 202 condos.

The Irvine office of Phoenix-based Opus West Corp. and Scottsdale-based Geoffrey H. Edmunds & Associates Inc. are developing the project, dubbed The Plaza Irvine.

Construction is set for early next year.

In a story I wrote in May, getting city approval was one of two hurdles the developers had to jump to get their project built. The other hurdle is financing.

Developers typically get a bank to commit money to a condo tower once more than half the units have been sold.

Opus is the managing partner in the deal with Geoffrey H. Edmunds. They also plan shops and restaurants integrated with the condo towers.

They may build a third tower, but that will be decided on later.

To help with early sales, the developers are building a 3,200-square-foot sales center onsite that will include a model condo.

Other construction is visible near the Jamboree and Campus site, but it's for a separate apartment project closer to Dupont Drive.

Opus is building a couple of parking structures that later will be wrapped around by apartments, according to Strader, who also is consulting for the developer. Opus plans 341 luxury apartments.

On a side note, I wonder if Opus' apartment project is one reason Irvine-based Sares-Regis Group decided to sell as condos about half of the 535 units at its Watermarke apartment complex next door.

Opus originally planned two office buildings and a hotel, but since has scrapped plans for one of the offices and the hotel.